~ THE LEGEND OF XANADU
II ~
Falcom
Super CD-ROM
1995
I've played
through this magnificent action-RPG a good five or six
times now. It's a grand, beautiful adventure game that
is far too easy and criminally short; it doesn't come
anywhere close to its predecessor in terms of challenge
or scope. However, that might not be a negative for
people who don't feel like contending with a daunting
language barrier. This episode is quite easy to get
into and enjoy, and judging by my own experiences, it
has fantastic replay value.
The action
is still primarily bump-and-run Ys-style fare, but combat
is more entertaining here thanks to the inclusion of
actual attack animations. You still send Areios crashing
into his foes as if he's a speedy, maniacal linebacker,
but now he hacks away with his sword as you do it. Your
computer-controlled allies get attack styles of their
own: while you're doing your slashing, Lykos may be
tossing knives; Pyrra, hurling fireballs; and Media,
shooting arrows, with lots of enemies facing the group
at once. Field excursions feel extremely exciting and
chaotic with all that action going on, even though the
gameplay is still a matter of bumping at heart.
While the first game
places much of its focus on puzzles and fetch-quest-type
tasks, this one concentrates on elements of combat
and exploration. It plops you down in vast, beautiful
locations and has you hack your way across the land,
enjoying the amazing scenery as you go. I must emphasize
that "beautiful" part, as these are amazing visuals
that set the standard for PCE action-RPGs.
The music, though
mostly chip fare just as before, is also brilliant,
especially the dramatic final-dungeon track. I usually
don't turn up the volume very high while I'm playing
video games, as I'm a mild-mannered fellow and all,
but I definitely cranked it for some of these tunes.
Now, the lack of puzzles is disappointing, as there
are so many cleverly constructed ones in the first
game. Here, the most puzzling conundrum is how exactly
Pyrra suddenly became hot. (Even Areios seems baffled
by this.)
Also a little disappointing
is the omission of full-length side-view stages,
as only the boss fights are played from such a perspective.
The artwork on display during these fights actually
doesn't live up to the visual standards set by the
action strips in the first LoX, but there's a fantastic
gauntlet at the very end here.
Most of what I'm citing
as disappointments are things that bother me only
because I'm comparing this game to its predecessor;
if you haven't played the first one, you'll of course
be judging this episode on its own strong merits.
Among those merits is town design. LoX2 features
some gorgeous, enormous towns, very atypical in
design for 16-bit metropolises. Now, milling around
these gargantuan villages will be anything but enjoyable
for folks who want to get right to the action, but
if you're the type who likes a leisurely pace and
you enjoy taking in the sights on offer as you stroll
about fantasy towns, you'll love this for sure,
as everything from a humble hut in the woods to
a giant urban seaport looks absolutely wonderful.
I'm somewhat fickle
when it comes to my view on how the two LoXs compare.
When I've played them back to back, I've found the
first to be the more impressive game, as it's so
much more challenging and rewarding. But over the
years I've generally held LoX2 in higher regard
because I'm a sucker for its visuals, tunes, and
chaotic combat and I've been enticed to return to
it twice as often. But now more than ever I realize
that it's pointless to compare the two. They are
both brilliant and constitute a significant reason
the Duo is undoubtedly the best system ever for
action-RPGs. Buy them both, unless you really don't
want to deal with the language issue in the first
one, in which case you should still acquire the
second.
